Journal
NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 336, Issue -, Pages 30-38Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.08.042
Keywords
resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI); spinal cord; functional connectivity; graph theory analysis; reproducibility
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Funding
- Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong [HKU 774211M]
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Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRl) has been extensively applied to investigate the organization of functional networks in the brain. As an essential part of the central nervous system (CNS), the spinal cord has not been well explored about its intrinsic functional network. In this study, we aim to thoroughly investigate the characteristics of the intrinsic functional network in the spinal cord using rsfMRI. Functional connectivity and graph theory analysis were employed to evaluate the organization of the functional network, including its topology and network communication properties. Furthermore, the reproducibility of rsfMRI analysis on the spinal cord was also examined by intra-class correlation (ICC). Comprehensive evaluation of the intrinsic functional organization presented a non-uniform distribution of topological characteristics of the functional network, in which the upper levels (C2 and C3 vertebral levels) of the cervical spinal cord showed high levels of connectivity. The present results revealed the significance of the upper cervical cord in the intrinsic functional network of the human cervical spinal cord. In addition, this study demonstrated the efficiency of the cervical spinal cord functional network and the reproducibility of rsfMRI analysis on the spinal cord was also confirmed. As knowledge expansion of intrinsic functional network from the brain to the spinal cord, this study shed light on the organization of the spinal cord functional network in both normal development and clinical disorders. (C) 2016 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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